b7a464cb-45f1-4089-965e-3daec6015469 SANBI The Metadata Manager +27 21 799 8738 Kirstenbosch Research Centre Cape Town Claremont 7735 South Africa bgishelp@sanbi.org.za 2017-08-23T14:59:48 SANS 1878 FGDC-STD-001-1998 WGS 1984 Little Karoo Ecosystem Status 2008 (Ostrich_farming_threat_ecosyst.shp) 2016-04-01 1.0 Threatened ecosystems in the Klein Karoo. It shows the “critically endangered”, “endangered” and “vulnerable” ecosystems as defined by National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment. These areas should be avoided as too much of these ecosystems have already been lost as a result of agricultural and urban developments. This data needs to be used together with the shapefiles; ‘Ostrich_farming.shp’ and ‘Ostrich_farming_severe_cultivated_transf.shp’, to determine areas where ostrich farming should be avoided. Ostriches have and continue to have a significant impact on the natural veld in the Klein Karoo – mainly as a result of over stocking and particularly the trampling effect that they have on the veld. Due to this ostrich farming has been identified as one of the major threats to biodiversity in the Klein Karoo. Using the above-mentioned shapefiles it is possible to identify areas where ostrich farming should not take place (Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable vegetation types), areas which have been completely transformed as a result of cultivation that has taken place, and those areas where ostriches could be stocked according to the recommended stocking rates. It is vitally important that these stocking rates must not be exceeded, as this will result in the remaining areas becoming decimated such as the veld between Calitzdorp and Oudtshoorn. These shapefiles should be useful to the Department of Agriculture, the Ostrich industry, extension staff and regional ecologists of CapeNature as well as local land managers. Helen de Klerk CapeNature GIS manager 021-866 8024 Private Bag X5014 Stellenbosch Western Cape 7599 South Africa hdeklerk@capenature.co.za Ecosystems Little Karoo South Africa Data Origin Interpretation based on National Spatial Biodiversity (Reyers et al. 2008) 50000 environment 2016-01-01 20.430195418122373 23.291615658144217 -34.51809800612839 -32.74382920598327 SANBI bgishelp@sanbi.org.za ZIP 1 http://bgismaps.sanbi.org/server/rest/services/BGIS_Projects/Little_karoo_terrestrialCBAs/MapServer WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link A list of services published are available at this URL. BGIS Map Services http://bgis.sanbi.org/SpatialDataset/Detail/447 WWW:LINK-1.0-http--related A list of spatial data-sets are available at this URL. BGIS Spatial Datasets The vegetation map for the Little Karoo (Vlok et al. 2005) and the Little Karoo Transformation Map (Thompson et al. 2005) were used to determine the threatened status of the ecosystems in the area. The analyses were done by Reyers et al. (2008) as part of a CEPF funded project. This shapefile should be used to identify areas that are already threatened as a result of the ostrich industry (and other developments). These areas need to be avoided and rehabilitation should be encouraged here. It needs to be used together with the layer ‘Ostrich_farming.shp’, where biodiversity sensitive and ecologically sustainable carrying capacities for ostrich farming are recommended. The other shapefile (Ostrich_farming_severe_cultivated_transf.shp) was derived from the Little Karoo Transformation map compiled by Thompson (2005) – all the areas under cultivation were selected for this layer. This shapefile identifies areas where ostriches can be kept, but land managers need to be mindful of erosion potential, as many of these areas are located within the floodplain. Available documentation: A one page description entitled “Recommendations for biodiversity sensitive and ecologically sustainable farming with ostriches in the Klein Karoo” was compiled by Jan Vlok (2008).